Blockchain, Decentralisation and the Public Interest: The need for a Decentralisation Conceptual Framework for dApps

Abstract

Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) enable for disintermediation of services and decentralisation of the software processes enabling them. By doing so, processes can become transparent, verifiable, tamper-proof, and immutable. They have the capacity to provide an unchangeable history, or log, of all actions that have taken place which could be traced back to specific stakeholders. It can be said that such features allow for the implementation of use-cases that strive towards the common good such as financial inclusion, ethical supply chains, and community empowerment – however, decentralisation may not always work towards the common good (Ellul & Pace, 2018). The question of whether and how exactly blockchain can help towards the common good is, indeed, too wide-ranging. What exactly the term common good is has changed, and has been debated since Aristotelian times (Dupré, 1993). In this paper a narrower concept, public interest, and its relation to decentralisation will be explored, after which we aim to provide a conceptual framework that can aid in visualising the decentralisation complexities of DLT. The proposed conceptual framework can thereafter aid in determining a system’s relevance to de/centralisation goals in aid of the public interest.